On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled that a Mexican mother can sue a Border agent over a cross-border shooting that killed her son.Jose Antonio Elena Rodríguez was fatally shot in 2012 by U.S. Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz after he used force to try and enter the United States illegally.

After being refused entry into the US, Rodríguez reportedly attacked agents with rocks in an attempt to forcibly gain entry to the country, causing Swartz to open fire.

Swartz was tried in court for the 2nd-degree murder of the Mexican national but was found not guilty by a jury who ruled that he acted in self-defense protecting his country.The case became complicated because Rodríguez was still technically in Mexico when he was shot by an American agent, on US soil, cross-border.